Negatives - Easy Learning Grammar French

What is a negative?A negative question or statement is one which contains a word such as not, no, never or nothing and is used to say that something is not happening, is not true or is absent.

1Using negatives

In English we use words like not, no, nothing and never to show a negative.

I’m not very pleased.

Dan never rang me.

Nothing ever happens here!

There’s no milk left.

Not is often combined with certain English verbs – for example, can’t, won’t, didn’t, hasn’t.

He isn’t joking.

She didn’t say.

In French, if you want to make something negative, you generally use a pair of words, for example, ne … pas (meaning not). The verb goes in the middle.

ne … pas

not

ne … rien

nothing, not … anything

ne … personne

nobody, no one, not … anybody, not … anyone

ne … jamais

never, not … ever

ne … plus

no longer, no more, not … any longer, not … any more

Je ne fume pas.

I don’t smoke.

Ne changez rien.

Don’t change anything.

Je ne vois personne.

I can’t see anybody.

Elle n’arrive jamais à l’heure.

She never arrives on time.

Il ne travaille plus ici.

He’s no longer working here.

Tipne changes to n’ in front of a word that starts with a vowel, most words beginning with h and the French word y.

In English, did is often used to make a statement negative.

I went to his party. → I didn’t go to his party.

We saw David at the weekend. → We didn’t see David at the weekend.

Note that the French verb faire is never used in this way.

non plus is the equivalent of English neither in phrases like me neither, neither do I and so on.

‘Je n’aime pas les hamburgers.’ – ‘Moinon plus.’

‘I don’t like hamburgers.’ – ‘Me neither.’

Il n’y va pas et moi non plus.

He isn’t going and neither am I.

The French word ne is missed out when negatives are used without a verb to answer a question.

‘Qui a téléphoné?’ – ‘Personne.’

‘Who rang?’ – ‘Nobody.’

‘Qu’est-ce que tu fais cet après-midi?’ – ‘Rien.’

‘What are you doing this afternoon?’ – ‘Nothing.’

TipIn everyday conversation French native speakers often miss out the word ne. Be careful about doing this yourself in formal situations.

Je peux pas venir ce soir.

I can’t come tonight.

Il me l’a pas dit.

He didn’t tell me.

Grammar Extra!Sometimes you will find two of these negative expressions combined.

Ils ne font jamais rien d’intéressant.

They never do anything interesting.

Je ne connais plus personne à Nice.

I don’t know anyone in Nice any more.

2Word order with negatives

Negative expressions in French ‘sandwich’ the verb in the present tense and in other tenses that consist of just one word. ne goes before the verb and the other half of the expression comes after the verb.

Il ne boit jamais d’alcool.

He never drinks alcohol.

Il ne pleuvait pas.

It wasn’t raining.

In the perfect tense and other tenses that consist of two or more words such as the pluperfect, there are two possibilities: